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Billy Napier: Florida turnover chain ‘ain’t gonna happen’

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz04/15/22NickSchultz_7

Florida appeared to debut a turnover chain during its spring game on Thursday. Apparently, no one told Billy Napier about it.

The Gators brought out the chain for the first time in the first quarter, appearing to pull from a similar tradition at Miami that started in 2017. But this year, the Hurricanes aren’t going to be using the turnover chain this year under Mario Cristobal — and, based on Napier postgame comments, neither will Florida while he’s in charge.

“Nobody ran that by me,” Napier said after the Orange and Blue game, via Gators Online’s Nick de la Torre. “That ain’t gonna happen.”

Well, so much for that idea.

The Blue Team came away with three turnovers in the spring game en route to a whopping 34-0 win on Thursday at The Swamp. That third turnover sounds like it’ll be the turnover chain’s final appearance, though.

Billy Napier impressed with Anthony Richardson, calls out defense after first half of spring game

If Florida fans didn’t know much about Anthony Richardson before, they probably do now. Gators fans had plenty of reason to like what they saw from their presumptive starting quarterback — and Billy Napier made note of that during a third-quarter interview.

However, it wasn’t all good. Napier told ESPN+’s Lauren Sisler he wanted to see more out of his defense after one half of play.

“We probably need to create a few more negative plays on defense,” Napier said. “Pressure a little bit more, move the front. But overall, we’ve thrown and caught the ball really well. We’ve been efficient, we’re not getting sacked, we’re not getting tackles for loss. That’s the way you want to play on offense. Overall, want to see some leadership from this defensive group here in this second half.”

But Napier also spoke highly of Richardson’s first half. He finished the game 18-for-24 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and Napier said he likes how far he’s come during spring practice. He also didn’t sound surprised considering how talented of an athlete Richardson is.

“The guy’s 6-foot-4, 236 pounds and I think the other day, he hit 21.5 miles per hour on the GPS, so just a phenomenal athlete,” Napier said. “It comes out of his hand really well. Short, intermediate deep, he’s got great touch. He’s proved this spring to be an accurate passer. I’ve been impressed with how quickly he’s picked it up. Just sitting out here behind him tonight, he’s playing with poise and the ball’s going where it should go.”